Cushion.



A. PRESGHL.

CUSHION..

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 13, 1908.

Patented Dec. 29, 1908.

45 ends,

ALFRED rREscIIL, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CUSHION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, 1908.

Y Application led January 13, 1908. Serial No. 410,524.

1o particularly to cushions especially designed lor automobile, car, andcarriage seats.

The primary object of the invention is to devise a novel form of cushionproviding for i'ree circulation of air within the cushion, and

another object is to provide a cushion having springs of uniform size inwhich the top oi' the cushion inclines slightly rearwardly.

In automobiles and carriages the cushion or seat-pad rests upon asuitable support such as the seat-frame, and fits closely against theupholstery oi the back and sides of the seat on three of its sidesleaving only the front edge exposed or iree. These cushions are usuallycom osed of a base provided Ible strip or piece of wood or othermaterial or by a skeleton Inetallic frame, and springs are mounted onthe base to su port and carry the cover or upper portion o the cushion,the material of the cover extending down around the sides and ends andbeing suitably secured all around its margin or edge to the base. It isobvious that these cushions are closed when they have bases composed ofstrips of wood or other material, and that when they have open orskeleton bases they are also closed by the shelf of the seat frame uponwhich they rest, so that in either case the air is confined within thecushion and acts as a resistance to the free depression of the springswhen strain or load is placed thereon. Heretoi'ore, efforts have beenmade to remedy this defect by providing gromets or eyelets in themarginal ortions oi' the cover at the sides and but this expedient hasproved unsatisfactory as the gromets in the rear side and ends areinelIcctive owing to the fact that these portions of the cushion areclose against the upholstery of the back and sides of the seat so thatthey are eiiectually closed, and

those in the 'front side are oftenclosed by the apparel of the assengeror when Jfree are insu cient to a ow the ingress and egress of airwithout producing un leasant noises.

By the present invention I o viate these objections and provide free andfull circulation oi air within the cushion and between the cushion andseat-frame.

Furthermore, in automobiles it is desirable to have the seat inclinedslightly toward the rear, this being especially true of the back ortonneau seats, and in cushions as now made this inclination is providedby employing relatively smaller springs along the rear portion of thecushion. 'lhis is objectionable as it is obvious that the weight of thepassenger rests more upon these relatively smaller springs than upon thelarger and stronger ones along the front which are near the knees of thepassenger and therefore not so directly under the weight, and thattherefore these smaller springs are subjected to greater wear with theresult that they soon break down and render the cushion useless. By myinvention, as will more fully hereinafter appear, I am able to inclinethe cushion rearwardly while employing springs of uniform size.

rlhe invention consists in the organizations and arrangements of partshereinafter described and then particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings as applied toa cushion for an automobile, and it will be of course understood thatvit applies in like manner to cushions for a plurality of passengers orseats, or for a single seat or passenger, and to cushions for all otherclasses of seats, such as carriages, cars etc.

In the drawings Figure l is an end view of a cushion in an automobile orcarriage seat illustrating an application of my invention, parts of theautomobile body being broken away; Fig. 2 is a perspective viewof oneform of base that may be employed in constructing the cushion; Fig. 3 isa view similar to Fig. 2 but showing different means for elevating thefront edge of the base; Fig. 4 is a similar view of another form ofbase; and Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view through the cushion ofFig. 1 with the seat-frame In section.

The reference numeral 6 indicates a series of springs employed inspringing-up the cushion and which support or carry the pad 7 composingthe top or cover of the cushion and either tufted or plain as desired.The springs are carried and supported in rows or banks upon a suitablebase 8; in the form shown in Fig. 2 this base is com osed of a suitablelength or strip of woo or other suitable material, and in Fig. 4 of askeleton frame composed of suitable cross-wires 9 connected by a borderwire 10. The material composing the pad of the cushion is extended downon the sides and ends of the cushion and suitably secured at its edge ormargin to the base. In order to provide circulation of air in thecushion the base is preferably made of more or less open nature orconstruction, as in the skeleton form illustrated in Fig. 4 or byproviding suitable holes or perforations 11 when the base is composed ofa length of board or other material.

As the seat-frames of vehicles, such as carriages and automobiles, areusually provided with a cushion shelf or support 12 usually composed ofboards, in order to provide circulation of the air to the cushion Iincline the cushion from front to rear in order to raise the front edgeof the base slightly above the shelf of the seat-frame. As shown inFigs. 1, 2, and this may be accomplished by providing a front elevatingpiece or riser 13 between the shelf of the seat-frame and the front edgeof the cushion and adapted to raise the latter slightly above and awayfrom the former and having passages or openings for air in anyconvenient manner as by cutting away a portion of the riser as shown at14. When the cushion is in place the elevating piece or riser raises thefront of the cushion to allow air to pass freely between the seat 12 andthe cushion as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5, and the open nature ofthe base of the cushion allows the air to have free circulation in thecushion itself.

It is obvious that the riser for elevating the 'front edge of thecushion may be pro vided in any suitable manner and by any suitablemeans; the form above described is practical and satisfactory for thispurpose, or as shown in Fig. 3 the base of the cushion may have aplurality of transverse ribs or strips 15 of sufficient height at theirfront ends to elevate the front edge of the cushion above its support orshelf and gradually tapering off toward their rear ends to merge in theplane of the base. In the form shown in Fig. 4 the front of the borderwire is provided with one or more downwardly projecting legs 16 whichform a suitable riser. It is of course to be understood that these orother changeably with the different forms of base shown in the drawingsor with other equivrlent forms without departing from the presentinvention.

By employing a suitable riser to elevate the front edge of the cushion Iam able to tilt or incline the latter rearwardly without varying thesize of the springs. As above pointed out it is desirable to incline thecushions rearwardly, especially in the tonneau-seats of automobiles, andthis has heretofore been accomplished by employing springs of relativelysmaller size in the rear portion of the cushion. By employing a suitableriser along the front edge of the cushion I am able to provide thedesired rearward inclination of the cushion withoutvarying the size ofthe springs as it will be seen. by reference to Fig. 5 that the springsare of uniform size and the cushion inclines rearwardly. This feature isof material advantage not only in that it enables the maker of thecushions to use springs of uniform size, but it also adds to the life ofthe cushion in that relatively stronger springs are thereby employed inthese portions of the cushion where the greatest weight is carried.

Having now described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is z 1. A cushion comprising` a cover or top pad, an openbase, intermediate springs, the material of the pad being attached at ornear its edge to the base, and a riser to elevate the front edge of thecushion.

2. A cushion comprising an open base, a

series of springs of uniform size on the base,

a cover or pad on the springs and connected to the base, and a riser onthe front of the cushion.

3. In a device of the class described, a

sea-t f r an-ie having a shelf, a cushion comprising an openbaseTest/ing on the shelf, a series of springs on the base, a pad orcover o/n/the springs and connected to the base, and a"\r\isey betweenthe shelf and front edge of theseat frame to elevate the latter' abovethe former.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED FRESCHL. I/Vitnesses ELIZABETH MoLiToR,

forms of risers may be employed inter- J. McRoBERrs.

